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Home : Expository writing | Elements of nonfiction

Elements of nonfiction are few
3 noticeable ways to arrange nonfiction

English teachers often ask for a list of the elements of nonfiction analogous to the elements of fiction they are accustomed to teaching.

I fear they will be disappointed.

Some nonfiction products

All of the following types of expository writing — and dozens of others — fall under the category of nonfiction:

    blank nature sign
  • Advertising copy

  • Web pages

  • Autobiography

  • Travel books

  • Business memos

  • Broadcast news copy

What do they have in common?

Not much.

A list of elements of nonfiction that covers all those kinds of expository writing would look a lot like the description on the nature sign in the photo: empty.

Learn more about what nonfiction is and its essential nature. I would hate to have any of my site visitors make silly errors like talking about "a nonfiction novel."

Nonfiction organizational patterns

By examining a broad sample of nonfiction, we can discover a few organizational patterns used repeatedly. These will be of little use in discussing nonfiction elements, but they are very useful in teaching nonfiction (or expository) writing skill.

Most common: thesis + support

The most common organizational pattern in nonfiction has a variety of names, such as:

There are probably others I’ve overlooked.

What distinguishes this type of expository writing is that its body is arranged in a pattern of a thesis statement followed by supporting evidence. The thesis statement is the main point the author wants to impress on the reader. The supporting evidence could be anything from personal anecdotes to pie charts.

Is thesis + support an element of nonfiction the way a plot is an element of fiction?

Before you answer, look at the second common organizational format for nonfiction expository prose.

Next most common: inverted pyramid

The inverted pyramid arranges information by the breadth of the ideas: broad, general ideas first, followed by increasingly narrower, more specific ideas.

I hesitate to call either of the persuasive pattern or the inverted pyramid pattern nonfiction elements.

In discussing fiction, you'd expect all the elements (plot, setting, characters, etc.) to be present together. You'd hardly expect a nonfiction paper to be organized two different ways simultaneously, would you?

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Other organization schemes: strings

In your examination of nonfiction, you may come across some other organizational patterns I call strings. Common string patterns are:

Alphabetical and numerical order are found almost exclusively in the nonfiction (expository) domain. Chronological and spatial organization may be found in fiction as well as in nonfiction.

All things considered, it seems to me that the list of elements of nonfiction consists of one item: non-fiction.

Linda Aragoni of you-can-teach-writing.com

Must-know terms

Three terms students must know in the context of expository essays are reason, evidence, and source.

A reason is a generalization that summarizes evidence in support of the thesis. In a
5 paragraph essay, reasons are the topic sentences of the body paragraphs.

Evidence is information that comes from an identifiable source. It can be fact or opinion.

A source is the person or group of people who supplies evidence.

Linda

Linda Aragoni

 

Photo Credit:
Nature Sign
by Scol22
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Student comment about You-Can-Teach-Writing

Plug-ins work

Your visual teaching methodology for each of the main parts of a paper is very effective. You basically teach a formula and the students have to plug in the bits of information with their own analysis.

~ Ayesha